Nairobi (KE), January 2008 - Kenya has become the third African country to launch eLearning facilities in secondary schools. The programme by Intel, and whose only other beneficiaries are South Africa and Nigeria, was launched at Kamiti Secondary School in the outskirts of Nairobi. The programme enables students to be taught through information communication technology (ICT) and is a collaboration effort between the Ministry of Education and several local and multinational ICT companies.
In a speech read by permanent secretary Karega Mutahi, Education Minister George Saitoti said the project was in line with the government's commitment to empowering Kenyans with ICT capabilities. "With the realisation of the key role that ICT plays in national development, it has become necessary to integrate it in all sectors of the economy", he said.
The project involves the use of computers and wireless connectivity for all types of class work. The teacher uses a laptop to which the students connect from their low-cost laptops known as classmates. In the new classroom, the blackboard has been replaced with a touch screen and students send their work to the teacher through wireless connectivity.
Prof Saitoti said the Government was committed to ensuring that the quality of education in the country was raised through the use of ICT. He said the government would continue to partner with the private sector and development partners to achieve this.
Prof Mutahi welcomed the initiative and asked the students and teachers to exploit it fully since it would be used as a model for future projects. He, however, noted that lack of electricity in rural areas and the high cost of ICT equipment had slowed down the development of the sector.
The initiative comes at a time when the Kenyan government has announced plans to set up digital villages in every constituency and boost the number of people with access to the Internet from 2.7 million to 6 million.
